WEBVTT

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Welcome to Guardians Weekly on the Cleveland
Guardians Radio network. Guardians Weekly is brought

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to you by Progressive helping Guardians fans
save hundreds on car insurance. Hi,

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everyone, welcome to Guardians Weekly.
Jimros in house along with you from Progressive

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Field in downtown Cleveland. Great to
have you with us for Baseball Talk on

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the radio this weekend. And if
you're listening in podcast form wherever and whenever

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it may be for you, and
we have the Variety Show shaping up for

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you this week. A lot of
different angles that we'll be covering in terms

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of guests and news and information too. First and foremost, after we take

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a break here shortly, we will
hear from Steven Vote, the new manager

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for the Guardians, as the coaching
staff has been set. That was the

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big order of business that was released
earlier this week with three new members of

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the coaching staff joining the holdovers from
previous years, so a nice blend of

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new and holdovers as well. And
the manager will fill us in on his

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thoughts on the staff makeup and some
of the new staff members. We will

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hear from the new third base code
Truglis o'door. It's a great story in

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that this will be his thirty fourth
season in Cleveland's organization and his first at

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the major league level. And we'll
also shift gears and here from John Gray.

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He's a pitcher for the Texas Rangers, and he is this year's recipient

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of the coveted Bob Feller Active Valor
Award. All that coming your way shortly,

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but first we'll step aside and take
a time out and have more on

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the Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio Network.
We are underway in downtown Cleveland. Progressive.

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We love sports and saving you money, so we bundled them together.

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Top of the seventh looks like a
pitching change as they've set up for a

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corner kick that two black belts have
entered the mat and the slider is low

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and away he heads the ball to
midfield. This is quite a Kuma's ey.

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Here comes the round. Has it
got enough guests to get out of

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here? Unbelievable. They've bundled their
home and auto insurance with good pressive kick

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savings, pitch Karate for Grisa keshting
Turan's company, affliates and other insurance discount

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not available in all states. Are
situations in the summer time when the winn

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who is high, you can just
right out Ben versus guy when the weather's

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you got down the two to one
delivery, Kwan sends a looping liner into

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center field and it drops for basin. Brennan scores the time runs bitch distrossun

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set second and Stephen Kwan once again
off the left Tandard delivers ay two on

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RBI single to center. Here's the
wine in the pistol Jose and he sends

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a liner towards center field off the
end of the bat basin and now drive

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for two is Ramiers. He beats
the throw of the Hen first slides just

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a little flare single off the end
of the mat to center, and he

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just out hustled Selestino in Buxton and
turned it into it's double. Here's one

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of the hottest hitters in the game. Josh Naylor to clean up hitter in

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first baseman the pitch and he drives
on a deep bright center. There she

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goes for nothing. Cleveland about that? All right? These are the days

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you dream of during the polar fortex
when you're looking outside your window in Cleveland

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going what are we doing here?
Welcome back to Guardian's Weekly Jim Rosenhaus back

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with you from Progressive Field in downtown
on Cleveland, and as you'd expect with

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a change in managers, also a
lot of the coaching staff has turned over

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as well, but maybe not as
much as you would think. Earlier this

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week, the Guardians announced the new
members of the twenty twenty four on field

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coaching staff, and they feature Rugless
Odor, a familiar name to those who

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are in touch with the farm system
for the Guardians, thirty three years in

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player development for Cleveland, and he
will become the new infield coach and third

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base coach as well. Brad Goldberg, who has also been in the system,

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not nearly as long as Rugulus Odore, but he's certainly an up and

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coming mind on the pitching end of
things, and he will fill in as

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the bullpen coach for the twenty twenty
four season. And Kay Correa comes over

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from the San Francisco Giants major league
staff. He'll be the major league field

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coordinator for the coming season. And
as we had heard at the press conference

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announcing Steven Vote as manager, Craig
Albernaz will also be added to the coaching

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staff and he will become the new
bench coach for the Guardians holdovers familiar names.

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Carl Willis is still the pitching coach. This will be his fourteenth season

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with Cleveland Sandy Alomar. He's back
as the first base coach his fifteenth season.

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Chris Falaka third year as the hitting
coach, joined by assistant hitting coach

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Victor Rodriguez. Also, Joe Torres
will be the assistant pitching coach, and

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rounding out that staff is outfield coach
j T McGuire and run production coordinator Jason

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Esposito. And the bullpen catchers are
back Armando Kamacaro for his fifteenth season and

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Ricky Pasioni for his eleventh. Earlier
in the week, Steven Vote, the

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manager for the Guardians, talked about
the staff and how excited he is to

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see it come together. Yeah.
I feel really good about it, you

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know, obviously with the coaches that
we have returning and the level of experience

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that they have, and and then
just adding the pieces in that we were

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missing, and I feel really good. It's a well rounded staff, people

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from all different experience levels but also
just wealth of knowledge and couldn't be more

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thrilled to have this group heading into
the next year. Hey, Stephen,

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you mentioned this at your news conference, but what is having that continuity mean,

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you know, bringing back Carl and
Chris and Sandy, to have those

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guys around to kind of show you
the ropes a little bit about what's going

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on in Cleveland. Yeah, I
think it was paramount to have them come

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back. I mean, especially with
the experienced levels of Carl and Sandy and

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their wealth of knowledge and just their
love for Cleveland and the players here,

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They're going to be a huge,
huge help for me. And bringing Chris

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back and having the continuity with the
hitting group just going into this year,

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I think was really important. So
I really feel good about everybody who's coming

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back as well as the new guys. Steven, do you have a plan

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for third base and replay? Replay
is still still a work in progress.

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We we're getting lists together right now
for the candidates for the replay, But

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Ruggy Odor is going to be coaching
third base, and Stephen Rugi is such

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a huge part of the development of
the guys that you know are already at

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the big league level, and I
know from experience he was my first professional

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coach and the organization. What was
the difference maker for you to want to

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promote him from a place in Double
A where you know it's it's as important

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a developmental place as any. So
having you know, kind of that staff

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get guys ready for that next level
and and ultimately the big leagues. What

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was what was that difference maker for
you with Rugi? First of all,

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the person. Just speaking with Rugi
for the first time, you could just

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feel his passion and his love for
the players and for the game of baseball

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and what he's done for this organization
on top of that, but more so

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the development he's going to have with
our young infielders. You know, he's

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worked with a lot of these guys
as they've come up through the ranks.

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Together, there's familiarity, there's a
relationship and a trust there already. And

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what he's going to be able to
provide for our for our middle infield especially

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and over all the infield, I
think is super important. But for me

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with Rugi, it was more this
this person, he's earned this, he's

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earned this opportunity, And obviously that
was one of the most fun phone calls

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I've ever made, was to tell
him that he's he's going to be on

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the staff, and we couldn't be
more thrilled, Stephen, What did you

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learn about Kay Korea throughout this whole
process and bringing him in uh to the

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mix here? Yeah, I mean
Kai obviously one of the most self self

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driven people I've I've ever met.
Just hearing his story, we quasi knew

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each other coming into this process,
but knowing what he's done to help infielders

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get better, what he's done to
help just organize a staff, and I

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think putting him in that field coordinator
role is a perfect spot for him.

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He's going to be handling a lot
of the day to day stuff behind the

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scenes as well as being there as
an aid for Rugie and JT with the

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outfielders, and you know, he's
just going to bring a wealth of knowledge

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and experience being the bench coach for
a few years, He's going to really

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be a good aid for Albie and
myself as well. Stephen, you played

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for a lot of coaches and managers
over the year. In your mind,

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what are the characteristics that make up
the best ones? The best coaches I

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ever had cared about the people.
They cared about the person first. They

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put themselves on the back burner.
It's not about them, It's about the

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players and obviously very knowledgeable in their
area. From a technical standpoint as well,

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that's justly very important, but really
just people who understand that this is

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about the team, this is about
the players, and they elevate their themselves

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to help the players get better every
single day. Steven, what have the

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last few weeks been like? Like? What have you had more conversations with

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players? Is your head still spinning? Is everything going one hundred miles an

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hour? Or do you feel like
you're getting acclimated pretty well? You know,

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obviously it's going. Every day is
busy, but I feel like through

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the process, I've really gotten comfortable
and found my stride. And you know,

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it was crazy trying to put a
staff together, the amount of time

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that we did for interviews and conversations
leading around candidates and things like that.

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I mean, we were fortunate to
have an extremely talented group of people that

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we interviewed and unfortunately only one person
could get those jobs. And highly qualified

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people and the best part, my
favorite part, is that lot a majority

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of these are internal and the Cleveland
organization as a whole, the minor leagues,

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the player development system has been so
strong in helping guys get to the

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big leagues and now to be able
to promote from within, I think is

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such a huge, huge thing for
us to do. And on your note,

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with the players, I've touched base
with probably ninety ninety five percent of

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the roster either via text or over
the own and just trying to get to

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know them and for them to get
to know me, but while also honoring

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the off season. I know the
last thing players want to do is be

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on the phone with their with their
manager all the time, So trying to

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balance that act as well. Steve
to be your first you know, winter

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meetings as as a manager, and
you know it is kind of a circus

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down there, but will there be
an opportunity to get your entire staff together

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and everyone just kind of take a
breath, break some bread together and just

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be like, hey, let's let's
rock and roll with this thing. Excited

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to get everyone together. Yeah.
I mean we actually had our first like

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staff meeting today via zoom. So
it was kind of fun just to have

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everybody together chatting real, real brief. It wasn't long, but just to

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say hello, and I know we're
going to be getting to work, We're

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going to try and get something put
together. You know, when you've got

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thirteen people that are living all over
the world, it's hard to find a

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common date. And again, trying
to honor people's time in the off season

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with their families something that's super important
to me. But we are we are

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working towards trying to find a time
we can get together for a couple of

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days, just to you accomplished so
much more interpersonally when you're in person together.

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But it'll be a lot of zoom
calls, a lot of phone calls.

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We got a lot of work to
do, but excited and I know

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that this group is gonna We're gonna
do some special things to help these players.

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Stephen, what, how do you
see the relationship between the bench coach

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and the manager. I think it's
the most important. And you know,

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having Craig Alburn now is in that
position. You know, obviously Demorlow leaving

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made a pretty big hole on our
staff. But to have Craig step up

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and take that that spot, I
think it's the most important relationship because he's

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gonna push me, he's gonna he's
gonna challenge me in a lot of ways.

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He's gonna he's gonna support me.
But he's it's not always going to

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be easy, and to have somebody
that I know very well personally and somebody

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who's pushed me my entire career,
he's going to continue to do that and

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I want to do that for him. Stephen, what do you think about

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the addition of Barlowe? How does
that help you think? I think it's

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huge to have somebody with that kind
of closing experience to be at the back

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end with coss A and our other
leverage relievers, because you know, in

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any given night, one or two
of them might be down, and so

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to have somebody else that's got some
closing experience and now you can shorten the

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game to the eighth and ninth.
And this is a guy that's had huge

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success at the major league level for
a long time and really excited to add

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to Adam. And is Stephen Vote
commenting primarily the coaching staff that he's put

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together for the coming season and things
starting to take shape, certainly for spring

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training and the twenty twenty four season, and you can get an early look

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at a lot of the roster as
well as Steven Vote and the coaching staff.

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Many members will be here for Guardians
Fest. Guards Fest will once again

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be at the Huntington Invention Center.
The date January the twentieth, and tickets

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are on sale now. You can
pick them up at cl guardians dot com.

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It's the tenth annual FanFest event put
on by the Guardians and will include

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many current Guardians and alumni, autograph
sessions, Platinum Glove and Gold Glove photo

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opportunities, a chance to meet the
new manager for the Guardian Steven Vote,

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and a ton of player appearances and
more. On the main stage, they'll

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be the Field of Dreams Baseball diamond. That's my favorite. I gotta be

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right out front the wiffleball field that
they put right in the middle of the

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convention Center. And what a great
time that is for kids. So if

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you have kids, bring them on
down January the twentieth, the Saturday morning

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and afternoon. Depending on whether you're
a season ticket holder, you come down

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in the morning and then the general
public it's wide open in the afternoon,

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and again it should be just a
ton of fun activities for kids of all

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ages at Guardsfest twenty twenty four and
tickets are on sale now pick them up

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at cl guardians dot com. Speaking
of tickets, single game tickets are on

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sale in time for the holiday season, and we can certainly can say that

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whether you rush it or not,
I think once the calendar turns to December,

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it's holiday season time and opening Day
tickets are on sale and as well

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as the entire twenty twenty four home
schedule. So head to cl guardians dot

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com and get all the information regarding
single game tickets for the twenty twenty four

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season, including opening Day. Hope
to see out here for that. Also,

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six packs are on sale now and
the ones with the most flexibility,

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those would be your voucher packs and
the twenty twenty four Flex voucher plans on

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sale now. You pick up one
of those, and you have the ultimate

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and flexibility. You can pick up
twenty or forty vouchers to redeem it anytime

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00:17:00.600 --> 00:17:03.680
throughout the season once you know which
games fit your schedule, and you can

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00:17:03.720 --> 00:17:08.640
redeem up to eight vouchers at a
time and choose your seating location for each

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of the games that you go to. And they're available in both the lower

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bowl and the upper decks. So
a lot of different options for the flex

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voucher plans, and I'm telling you
for the baseball fan in your family.

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You put those under the tree and
they are happy. And that's the gift

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that keeps on giving throughout the summer. So a lot to look forward to.

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Head to cl Guardians dot com again
for all the information on guards Fest

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00:17:33.920 --> 00:17:37.559
single game tickets and flex voucher plans. Well, we'll take a break and

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when we come back, a great
story about perseverance and I think just about

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everybody in the organization is extremely happy
for rubless Odor. After thirty three years

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in player development, he will join
the major league coaching staff this season.

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We'll talk to him about it when
we return after this on the Cleveland Clinic

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Guardians Radio Network. Welcome back to
Guardians Weekly and we continue our look at

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some of the new members of the
Cleveland Guardians coaching staff for twenty twenty three

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under manager Steven Vote and a very
familiar name for those who have knowledge of

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Cleveland's farm system. This guy has
been in the organization for thirty three seasons.

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This coming year will be as thirty
fourth. Rubless o'door is the new

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infield coach and third base coach,
former most recently Doba manager and Akron and

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Rula's first off. Congratulations, I
know, patience is a virtue, but

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man, you have been patient and
done some great work in the organization and

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it seems like it's paying off now
for your first exposure at the major league

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level. Thank you, Thank you. I'm excited and truly happy. And

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it's an honor and a privilege to
be part of the big On staff and

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I'm very excited. Thank you.
Tell us about the process. When did

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you begin that interview process and find
out that you would be a part of

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Stephen Vot's staff. Well, I
got a text. I was on the

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middle of a workout here in Venezuela. I'm doing Winter Bowl, and I

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had a text from Stephen Vote and
he was asking me, Hey, Rugy,

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do you have time to talk.
I'd like to talk to you.

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And I said absolutely. And I
was hitting grumballs to the infielders, and

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I was glad that I had my
phone with me in my pocket and and

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I and I told the manager here
I got a call, and he goes,

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go ahead, Rugie. So he
called me and he asked me,

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Rugie, you know, I would
like you to be part of of the

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team as a coach. However,
we're going to have to interview you and

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are you okay with you know,
the process, And I said absolutely,

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I would love to. And he
said, well, I got to get

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back to you and and let you
know about the interviews. And that's how

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every finished started. So I went
through the interview for a few days and

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and and I remember I was here
in Venezuela in a supermarket. I was

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doing some groceries and and my phone
ran and and and it's him, and

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he told me, uh, Rugie, you got the job. You are

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part of I was having And I
was so excited and and he said,

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really, please, don't don't say
anything and yet until we make it formal.

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And I asked him, and I
tell my mom and dad and he

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said absolutely. So that's that's that's
what it is. So my first two

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people I call mom and dad and
and and uh and waiting for the formal

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decision and announcement. And it was
I was extremely you know, happy,

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And again it's an honor for me
to be part of the MLB staff for

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Cleveland. Anytime there's a managerial change, obviously there's coaching staff changes too.

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Did you have a feeling that you
might get an opportunity to at least interview

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or was that a surprise that that
he gave you a call so quickly.

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A little bit of bose because I
didn't know him and at the same time

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him calling me and asking me for
you know, going through the interview process,

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I'm I'm like, I might have
a chance to be with the team.

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But at the same time, I
didn't really know him, and I

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wasn't one percent sure. But after
talking to him and asking him some questions,

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you know about what was it that
he was looking for in a coach

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like me, and he he was
describing what it was, and I'm like,

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I think I have a chance because
I have those those qualities. And

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that's when I said, you know
what, I might have a chance to

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be with the big league club.
Rugless o'door is joining us and he will

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be the third base coach and infield
coach for the Guardians this coming season.

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Nineteen eighty eight, you joined the
organization as a player and since then you've

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you've been a coach, a manager
at that many different levels. Uh,

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this will be your thirty fourth season
and first at the major league level.

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Did you think that maybe it just
your role in this organization would always be

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at the player development level, and
maybe never in the main your leagus or

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did you always have that hope that
that at some point you'd get an opportunity.

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I always had the whole that I
was when I get the opportunity.

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Obviously I didn't know when, but
but I always had it in my mind,

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and I had a lot of people
on my side always set on me

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a rugie. Make sure you continue
to do good, continue to be you,

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continue to health the players to become
the best they can be. And

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and and that's what I did throughout
my whole minor league career, trying to

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to help the players. And we
do such a great job signing not just

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good players, but also good people. And you know, the organization has

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done such a great job. I
mean, it's a blessing that I'm getting

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the opportunity right now. And and
I'm extremely happy. When you look at

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at some of the facets of of
what you'll be doing in field coaches,

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part of that you'll get to work
with a pretty good second basement, especially

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defensively. And and Andre seint Manez, how much are you looking forward to

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that as a fellow Venezuela And and
and one of the top defensive players in

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all of baseball. Oh, I
love it. I love it. We

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already talked, so I had the
opportunity to talk to him. He's excited

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and and and I told him,
Hey, let's see how many gold glove

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you can win in a row.
So let's skill working and and uh and

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doing it right and and and the
first the first thing he said is rookie,

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Yeah, let's let's work. Let's
let's let's do it. And and

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and I'm happy that I had the
opportunity to work with him in the w

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b C and and and obviously this
last few years, I've been going to

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big league camp, so I kind
of have an idea the type of person

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he is and the type of player
obviously he is, but excited and excited

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and and just like him, you
know, holds ever mirrors. I also

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talked to him. And I'm trying
to uh to talk to all the infielders

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and and and start establishing and continuing
the relationship because most of them I know

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them. So it's it's very nice, you know, I last you this

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00:25:04.079 --> 00:25:08.799
and you mentioned Adam and you you
join the team after a good stint uh

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managing at the Double A level at
Akron. How much of an advantage you

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think that will be that that you
can hit the ground running because you know

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so many of the younger players have
been in the organization and have come through

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the minor leagues. I think it's
huge because once you have your relationship and

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the players know you as a staff
person, as a as a coach,

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they know that that you just want
to help them to be the best they

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can be. And and I have
the relationship with most of them, and

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I think it's going to be awesome
that we're going to be working together and

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00:25:45.240 --> 00:25:48.920
again at the big league level.
And they already know me. I know

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them, so they know what I'm
trying to get out of them. So

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I think it's going to be an
advantage that we're going to have. We're

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joined by Ruglas Odore, the new
in field coach and third base coach for

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the Cleveland Guardians, part of Steven
Vote's major league coaching staff for the coming

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season, and we catch up with
Roogie Down. He's out down in Venezuela

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00:26:10.720 --> 00:26:15.279
mentioned that he's helping out on a
coaching staff for the Venezuelan Winner League.

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Rookie Phillison, what you know you
hear a lot about winter balling and what

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00:26:18.920 --> 00:26:23.279
it's like the Venezuelan League. What
is that like on a nightly basis?

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00:26:23.279 --> 00:26:29.759
From a fan standpoint and a competition
standpoint, it's very similar to playing big

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00:26:29.839 --> 00:26:33.799
league games. Every single game matters, and we're trying to do anything any

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00:26:34.079 --> 00:26:40.480
takes to win Bowl games. And
it's a little bit different than the minor

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00:26:40.559 --> 00:26:44.559
leagues because even though we're trying to
win every single game in the minor leagues,

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we are also developing players. So
if I have to kind of stay

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00:26:51.359 --> 00:26:56.359
in a message to this end,
I would say very similar to the big

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leagues, probably more towards the energy
season, where we're trying to make it

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00:27:02.400 --> 00:27:07.319
to the pole siason, but every
game from day one is laid out here,

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00:27:07.000 --> 00:27:11.279
and when do you finish up and
head back here and start to go

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to work on the season ahead.
So if we make it to the post

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season, it's going to be the
whole month of January and then we get

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00:27:21.559 --> 00:27:23.200
if we win, we get to
go to the Caribbean Rules Series, which

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is going to be in Miami in
a long depot park for one week.

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But if we don't make it,
the last game of decisions is going to

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be late in December, and then
that would be well. I know you

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00:27:37.880 --> 00:27:41.279
are looking forward to being a part
of the major league staff. We've always

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00:27:41.279 --> 00:27:44.119
had a chance to see out in
spring training as part of the major league

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00:27:44.119 --> 00:27:48.039
staff in recent seasons, but you're
a full fledged part of it for the

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00:27:48.079 --> 00:27:51.440
coming year. And again, congratulations
and thanks so much for coming by.

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00:27:51.799 --> 00:27:53.839
Thank you, thank you, and
again it's an honor and a privilege to

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be part of the MLB Cleveland staff. That is Ruthless, one of the

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00:28:00.759 --> 00:28:03.440
good guys in the game, and
thanks for his time. We check in.

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00:28:03.759 --> 00:28:07.240
We spare no expense as we made
a phone called to Venezuela to track

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00:28:07.359 --> 00:28:14.000
down Rugless and talk about his great
news personally. And I know for the

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00:28:14.000 --> 00:28:17.160
team as well, they're excited to
give him that opportunity to be a part

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00:28:17.160 --> 00:28:22.160
of the major league staff after thirty
three years in the minor leagues and for

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so many who spend that much time, one of the reasons being not because

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00:28:26.359 --> 00:28:29.160
they don't think he could get the
job done at the major league level.

352
00:28:29.519 --> 00:28:33.000
They just love what he does with
the young players and he has such an

353
00:28:33.039 --> 00:28:36.079
asset there. So he'll be missed
in player development, to be sure,

354
00:28:36.359 --> 00:28:40.680
but certainly an asset for the Major
league coaching staff for the coming season.

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Stay tuned. When do we come
back, we'll talk about the Bob Feller

356
00:28:44.519 --> 00:28:48.240
Active Valor Awards ceremony. It was
in Washington, d C. At the

357
00:28:48.319 --> 00:28:52.559
Naval Academy, so just outside d
C in Annapolis last week, and the

358
00:28:52.599 --> 00:28:57.200
Major League recipient of the Active Valor
Award this year, John Gray Pitcher for

359
00:28:57.319 --> 00:29:02.680
the Texas Rangers, will visit at
him next on the Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio

360
00:29:02.759 --> 00:29:07.720
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361
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363
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364
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365
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366
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com. Progressive Casualty Insurance company and
affiliates. Welcome back to Guardians Weekly,

369
00:29:47.519 --> 00:29:52.079
and we are joined now by this
year's Bob Feller Active Valor Award winner on

370
00:29:52.200 --> 00:29:57.119
the major league side, current player
John Gray picture for the Texas Rangers,

371
00:29:57.160 --> 00:30:02.640
the World Series champion Texas ra John, thanks so much for coming by and

372
00:30:02.839 --> 00:30:06.880
congratulations on a couple of things that
the World Series and winning the Bob Feller

373
00:30:06.920 --> 00:30:10.039
Active Valor Award. Thank you.
I appreciate that, and thanks for having

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00:30:10.079 --> 00:30:12.599
me before we get to the World
Series and we'll talk a little bit about

375
00:30:12.640 --> 00:30:17.640
that. But obviously fans here in
Cleveland have such a soft spot in their

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00:30:17.680 --> 00:30:21.279
heart for Bob Feller. And when
you were named the award winner, how

377
00:30:21.359 --> 00:30:26.240
much did you know about Bob?
And then after that time, how much

378
00:30:26.319 --> 00:30:30.759
did you try and learn about him
and what the award meant. So before

379
00:30:30.839 --> 00:30:33.319
all of this, the thing I
remember about Bob Feller was seeing an old

380
00:30:33.400 --> 00:30:37.200
video of him throwing next to the
motorcycle, I believe, and they were

381
00:30:37.240 --> 00:30:40.880
talking about him throwing one hundred miles
an hour, So I thought that was

382
00:30:40.920 --> 00:30:44.440
really cool. I thought that was
awesome. But just to learn everything I

383
00:30:44.480 --> 00:30:48.880
did about him in his career,
everything he's done with the service. I

384
00:30:48.920 --> 00:30:53.319
mean, it's it really is like
over the top mind blowing to see how

385
00:30:53.960 --> 00:30:56.680
just full of love as this guy
was full of love, he was and

386
00:30:56.920 --> 00:31:00.599
selfless person, and you know,
it's it's something that's stuck with me,

387
00:31:00.640 --> 00:31:03.839
like it's it's something I think about
all the time. And you know,

388
00:31:03.839 --> 00:31:07.160
they just don't make them like that
anymore. When you found out about his

389
00:31:07.319 --> 00:31:10.519
service, could you ever ever imagined
And we kind of touched on it before

390
00:31:10.720 --> 00:31:12.720
we took the air here you were
with the Rockies coming up, but maybe

391
00:31:12.799 --> 00:31:15.319
at that age, could you have
ever imagined saying, you know what,

392
00:31:15.440 --> 00:31:19.200
baseball, let's put baseball on the
back burner and go serve our country because

393
00:31:19.240 --> 00:31:22.880
there's things happening no and you know, and that's uh, you know,

394
00:31:22.920 --> 00:31:26.559
that's probably the best thing you can
do. You know, ninety nine percent

395
00:31:26.599 --> 00:31:30.519
of us would find an excuse not
to, but you know that's just I

396
00:31:30.519 --> 00:31:33.519
guess it just shows the kind of
person above is and and while what the

397
00:31:33.599 --> 00:31:37.400
market's left. So you win the
award, and obviously there's some great things

398
00:31:37.440 --> 00:31:40.400
you're doing for the military. How
long have you been doing it? I

399
00:31:40.480 --> 00:31:44.359
wonder some of the key programs that
you have in placed down in Texas.

400
00:31:44.839 --> 00:31:48.160
Well. We've only been working with
the military for a little while now,

401
00:31:48.240 --> 00:31:52.680
maybe over a little over a year, but I've got to touch in touch

402
00:31:52.720 --> 00:31:56.640
with ATF. They're down here just
south of Dallas. Really good group of

403
00:31:56.680 --> 00:32:00.519
people, veterans. They get together, they work out, they they had

404
00:32:00.519 --> 00:32:04.000
their own facility and they get in
there and hang out together and send us

405
00:32:04.039 --> 00:32:07.839
videos and they do this wolf share
Wednesday, I believe, and it's it's

406
00:32:07.880 --> 00:32:10.079
pretty funny. So we get we
get a lot of stuff from them,

407
00:32:10.119 --> 00:32:14.559
but they're doing good work. They're
really it's finding a lot of purpose when

408
00:32:14.599 --> 00:32:20.599
they come back and and really getting
that that camaraderie and and just being able

409
00:32:20.599 --> 00:32:22.160
to be with each other because I
know that makes a big difference. And

410
00:32:22.480 --> 00:32:25.759
you know things. I mean,
my wife and I know because we've had

411
00:32:25.759 --> 00:32:29.880
a lot of family in our military, our family, and we've kind of

412
00:32:29.880 --> 00:32:32.960
seen like the negative side of things
that that people don't really discuss a lot,

413
00:32:34.079 --> 00:32:37.839
so we know we know how important
this is, and so we really

414
00:32:37.880 --> 00:32:40.599
just wanted to start something where we
could just bring families, bring military family

415
00:32:40.640 --> 00:32:44.039
families, hit a ballpark and just
spend a day with this and watch a

416
00:32:44.079 --> 00:32:45.799
game. I mean, we've always
felt like that's went a long ways just

417
00:32:45.839 --> 00:32:49.119
to get out and hang out and
just spend a day with us. So

418
00:32:50.200 --> 00:32:52.319
it's been a great thing, and
you know, it's gotten to be the

419
00:32:52.400 --> 00:32:54.759
lot of great people along the way, so we're truly blessed. I know.

420
00:32:54.839 --> 00:33:00.759
That's that's just a small part of
the many community initiatives have going with

421
00:33:00.799 --> 00:33:05.200
the Rangers, but this one obviously
recognized as as the Bob Feller Active Velor

422
00:33:05.319 --> 00:33:10.359
Award winner. Our good friend Bobby
Biassio here with the Guardians Spearheads, has

423
00:33:10.440 --> 00:33:15.599
spearheaded the the event at the Naval
Academy every year. What was that like

424
00:33:15.640 --> 00:33:19.440
for you? Explain some of the
experiences that you had last week at the

425
00:33:19.480 --> 00:33:22.799
event. Oh man, that was
that was really awesome, just being able

426
00:33:22.839 --> 00:33:27.880
to hang out there with with all
the military members. I met some great

427
00:33:27.920 --> 00:33:30.839
families. Uh, the Navy baseball
team was in the house, so I

428
00:33:30.839 --> 00:33:34.160
got to chat it up with them
for a little bit and talk some ball.

429
00:33:34.279 --> 00:33:37.799
So it was it was really really
cool. It was very very cool

430
00:33:37.839 --> 00:33:40.559
to see how formal everything was and
see all the all the guys in their

431
00:33:40.680 --> 00:33:45.160
uniform. I mean, it was
it was it was a tree. It

432
00:33:45.240 --> 00:33:47.119
was pretty intimidating because I knew I
was gonna have to speak at some point,

433
00:33:47.200 --> 00:33:50.880
but but it was it was truly
an honor. It was really really

434
00:33:50.880 --> 00:33:52.680
fun. And when you met them
in Navy baseball team, did you ever

435
00:33:53.880 --> 00:33:59.359
maybe think about what they go through
just to get on the field after their

436
00:33:59.440 --> 00:34:04.359
day of of academics and military drills
and things like that. How it must

437
00:34:04.359 --> 00:34:07.280
be to be able to play a
little bit of baseball anyway. Yeah,

438
00:34:07.599 --> 00:34:10.440
I always thought about that and always
thought that was interesting. So I was

439
00:34:10.480 --> 00:34:14.960
sure to ask them a few questions, and yeah, I mean they were

440
00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:16.679
they were great. We had to
hang out for a good while, actually,

441
00:34:16.679 --> 00:34:20.880
like twenty thirty minutes, so you
know, I asked them how it

442
00:34:20.920 --> 00:34:22.920
was when they can play like Army
and other teams like that, So it

443
00:34:22.800 --> 00:34:25.719
was it was really cool. Things
are a little different that they do,

444
00:34:25.800 --> 00:34:30.480
but still I think that'd be something
I would enjoy doing, you know.

445
00:34:30.639 --> 00:34:34.440
So it was really cool to be
able to experience that again. John Gray

446
00:34:34.480 --> 00:34:37.480
of the Texas Rangers joining us.
So he's this year's Bob Feller Active Valor

447
00:34:37.599 --> 00:34:42.519
Award winner, and John, you're
a World Series champion. I bet that

448
00:34:42.599 --> 00:34:46.039
sounds good every time someone says that
it does it still it still feels new,

449
00:34:46.159 --> 00:34:50.000
So it still feels good. It's
awesome when you look back on it.

450
00:34:50.039 --> 00:34:52.000
When when we saw the Rangers for
the last time here in Cleveland,

451
00:34:52.159 --> 00:34:55.480
it was getting near the tail end
of the season, and I know the

452
00:34:55.519 --> 00:35:00.679
team had some ups and downs in
the second half. What clicked in down

453
00:35:00.679 --> 00:35:04.679
the stretch and in the postseason for
your ball club, I just think I

454
00:35:04.679 --> 00:35:07.159
think our team has like a lot
of a lot of fight. I think

455
00:35:07.199 --> 00:35:08.679
a lot of fight, you know. And not not to say that we

456
00:35:08.719 --> 00:35:12.519
feed off of drama, but when
things get a little bit serious, things

457
00:35:12.519 --> 00:35:15.239
to get a little more pushy,
I feel like we get better. And

458
00:35:15.760 --> 00:35:17.840
we're also a team that we yeah
we'll have our downs, but we are

459
00:35:17.880 --> 00:35:22.079
downs only last for a week,
maybe two at tops, but we're right

460
00:35:22.119 --> 00:35:23.599
back in there. Things don't really
drag out for a month with us.

461
00:35:23.880 --> 00:35:27.559
You know, we have a bad
week, we're coming back and playing two

462
00:35:27.559 --> 00:35:30.840
more weeks of good baseball. So
I thought we stayed in the fight really

463
00:35:30.880 --> 00:35:32.920
well. We'd never got too far
out of whack, never checked out,

464
00:35:34.039 --> 00:35:36.719
and it was hard fought till the
end. I mean, it wasn't it

465
00:35:36.760 --> 00:35:38.920
definitely wasn't easy. So you know, I can't be more proud of our

466
00:35:38.920 --> 00:35:45.840
club and your career Colorado Rocky until
last year you signed with Texas. Obviously

467
00:35:45.880 --> 00:35:51.239
there's expectations and hopes that it could
be a good move. What led you

468
00:35:51.280 --> 00:35:53.079
there and what made you think,
hey, maybe this could really happen.

469
00:35:53.679 --> 00:35:59.239
Well, I guess number one geography
of everything, I'm v Ocahoma. Still

470
00:35:59.280 --> 00:36:01.360
being here in Texas feels a lot
like home. It's you know, we're

471
00:36:01.400 --> 00:36:06.039
really blessed being right here. And
then again, like the direction of the

472
00:36:06.039 --> 00:36:10.920
club was headed having talks with Cy
and some of the front office when before

473
00:36:10.920 --> 00:36:14.119
I came, I mean it was
I knew, I knew what they wanted

474
00:36:14.159 --> 00:36:15.360
to do. I knew what they
were all about, and and they were

475
00:36:15.480 --> 00:36:19.760
very like excited about me too,
and that felt really good. So it

476
00:36:19.840 --> 00:36:22.360
was a perfect fit. It messed
really well together. And you know,

477
00:36:22.400 --> 00:36:25.800
I'm excited to see what our club's
still gonna do. But but couldn't be

478
00:36:25.880 --> 00:36:30.440
could be more pleased so far,
may just be scratching the surface. They's

479
00:36:30.440 --> 00:36:34.920
gonna be a handful for just about
everybody else. But just based on how

480
00:36:34.960 --> 00:36:37.679
things went this fall, for sure, Congratulations on the World Series and the

481
00:36:37.719 --> 00:36:42.320
Bob Feller Active Valor Award. John
Gray, thanks so much for coming by

482
00:36:42.400 --> 00:36:45.719
today. Thanks so I appreciate that. And it's John Gray of the Texas

483
00:36:45.840 --> 00:36:52.400
Rangers, the eleventh Bob Feller Active
Valor Award winner, and that award and

484
00:36:52.519 --> 00:36:58.880
a great ceremony given to John as
well as the others involved last week at

485
00:36:58.880 --> 00:37:01.360
the Naval Academy Annapolis, Maryland.
That's going to put a cap on our

486
00:37:01.400 --> 00:37:06.119
show this week. A lot to
get to and hopefully we covered all the

487
00:37:06.159 --> 00:37:09.159
bases this week. But thanks as
always to Brian Matse for helping to put

488
00:37:09.199 --> 00:37:13.519
together our show each and every week. We'll join you again next week for

489
00:37:13.599 --> 00:37:27.760
another edition of Guardian's Weekly right here
on the Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio Network.

490
00:37:32.039 --> 00:37:38.960
Guardians Weekly has been brought to you
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